“We make a life out of what we give,” said Eileen Maloney-Simon, YWCA of Greater Miami-Dade CEO, during a seasonal message to more than 100 West Kendall Business Association members on Nov. 17.

Paraphrasing Winston Churchill, the energetic executive, named one of Miami- Dade’s top woman leaders for 2010-11, urged a “different approach to giving of yourself during the holidays.”

“Money is only one way of giving. You can also make a gift of time, your counsel and advice, and of your heart,” added the YWCAchief executive who has guided the organization now serving more than 15,500 women and children annually in Miami-Dade County.

Among her most memorable achievements during a 20-year career with the organization is the establishment of a Child Care Services unit to assist residents of Overtown.

“Now, most recently that has been enhanced by the new Computer Clubhouse, a model for after-school learning for young people in under-served communities,” she added.

Appointed to her first post with the ‘Y’ on June 15, 1995, Maloney-Simons, an FIU graduate and mother of four, emphasized that “fully 80 percent of our current yearly budget now goes into childhood learning.”

Paralleling a need for the organization’s objectives, she urged WKBA members to take a different approach to giving besides money — through friendship or, as you have done today, with donations of food and service for those in need.

“Put aside a few moments to help a relative, a neighbor or just someone you know,” she urged. “Giving of yourself is the greatest gift of all.”